7 Of The Worst Pieces Of Video Game Music

Video Games

Jan 9

Muscle guy playing an electric guitar — Image Source: CogConnected

It seems odd, initially, to make a list of the worst pieces of video game music. After all, who likes playing poorly made things? But there are lists for everything, so why not bad music in video games?

Let’s remember that much of this is subjective, and we’re writing this from the point of view of 2024. We’re talking decades of better quality audio than there was access to in the late '80s to the early 2000s. I approached this list from the perspective of games with which I would turn the music off if given the option, or if given the opportunity, have a serious conversation with the people who were in charge of letting these tracks and sounds make it into the game.

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7. Resident Evil: Directors Cut - Basement Mansion

This one seems to be universally found on lists of bad video game music. For a game that was released in 1997, to use this track for the basement of the mansion is almost just lazy and bad taste. It sounds like a throwback to the Atari compared to everything else available at the time of release, or soon thereafter. What’s worse, is it’s distinctly lower in quality than the actual soundtrack, so it leaves one asking why this was such a bad piece in a game with a normal soundtrack?

6. The Sims - Anything That Can Be Played On The Music Devices In-Game

I love the Sims. I’ve played every single one since the first one debuted. I’ve done the terrible deaths, I’ve tried the 100-baby challenge. I’ve tried making my own skins (those nightmares no longer exist, you’re welcome). I’ve even been ding-dong ditched by Death (true story). There’s one thing I can’t stand in any of them: the music. I like the way the Sims dance or think they can dance, but I upload music tracks and songs to play rather than listen to the tracks the game considers music. I know they’re based on real songs and it’s not the Simlish lyrics. I think they could have picked better songs to represent those genres.

5. Action 52

Another one that seems to pop up on these lists a lot. It’s honestly a game I’ve never heard of before, and maybe that has to do with the absolutely horrible choice for a title. Action 52? Really? Anyway, it’s another track from the NES era, before modern audio technology could grace our ears. It sounds like an early '90s attempt at dubstep, and given how long dubstep lasted as a subgenre of electronic music, it’s no surprise this soundtrack is a little better than nails on a chalkboard.

4. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 - Character Select Screen

Why? Just, why? What about Marvel superheroes and Capcom characters beating the snot out of each other screams “Yes, let’s use this song during one of the most commonly seen parts of the game?” Seriously, it sounds like the kind of music that is played when a late-night talk show host points to the camera and tells you it’s time for a commercial. It would almost, and I stress the word almost, be better if there were no lyrics. I could tolerate the funky beat more then, but to hear this every time you select a character, hard pass. Imagine this scene: Next fight, Hulk vs. Akuma. “Aww, yeah! This is an epic fight!” *Take You For A Ride* starts to play. “…what?”

3. Doom - The Imp’s Song

There are few games as nostalgic or historic as Doom, that’s why it’s disappointing that a song like this makes it into the game. I don’t have the most attuned auditory system as some audiophiles out there, but I know tech, and if I were to hear that screeching cricket noise while I’m playing, I’d do some troubleshooting immediately. It makes me feel like I would stop what I’m doing and listen around me for where it’s coming from, only to discover that when I turn off my speakers, it goes away and I instantly feel a sense of calm come back over me. It’s also a clear demonstration of optimization gone bad, as the version chosen was run on a 32X.

2. Beverly Hills Cop - Title Screen

One of the classic 80s movies with Eddie Murphy that also spawned one of the most universally recognized theme songs (that became an incredibly annoying remix with that damn frog in the early 2000s), it’s almost sad to hear the rendered version for the companion game. It’s seriously just sad. Hear it if you must, but you’d be better off listening to metal on metal grinding.

1. Metal Gear

The game that started the hit series starring Solid Snake has just some horrible music to play the game. There are maybe 4 different sounds arranged into a beeping and screeching track that if I had to listen to in a game today, I’d never make it past the first level if I couldn’t turn the music off. Can you imagine listening to this again and again?